iPhone 7 to be followed by handset made entirely out of glass, report says

If the re-design comes in 2017, as rumoured, it would mark a major change from the usual tick-tock cycle of iPhone upgrades

Apple unveiled its new 4-inch iPhone SE in March (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Apple could completely re-design its iPhone and use an all-glass case, according to a new rumour.

The company could be about to completely change its usual release cycle for iPhones, leaving the next major redesign until 2017, according to usually reliable Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. The report is just the latest to suggest that Apple could be heading for a complete overhaul of the way it structures and releases its iPhones.

The company is preparing to drop the aluminium case that has been used in almost every iPhone release, and instead swap it for a glass casing. Apple has used glass in its phones before – including the front and back of the iPhone 4 – but has never used it for the entire case.

Mr Kuo doesn’t clarify how exactly the new phone will be built entirely out of glass.

The 2017 iPhone is also expected to bring with it a range of other updates, including an AMOLED display for better battery performance and higher quality images.

As such, it may be a far more advanced upgrade than that represented by the iPhone 7, which many leaks have suggested might look much like the existing models. As such it could mark a major departure from the usual tick-tock cycle for iPhones, which usually receive a major update one year and then have their insides upgraded the year after for the “S” phone.

Beyond the rumoured similar design of the iPhone 7, the primary rumoured feature is a dual-camera system. That has been shown in photos before, and the technology can be used for improving photos and potentially even allowing them to take photos in 3D.